Ripple CEO Reaffirms XRP as 'North Star' With Half of RLUSD Issued on XRP Ledger
Key Takeaways
- •Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse stated in a November 4 interview that XRP continues to serve as the company's 'North Star,' its central strategic reference point.
- •Approximately half of the RLUSD stablecoin supply is issued on the XRP Ledger, while the remaining half circulates on Ethereum.
- •Every transaction on the XRP Ledger, including RLUSD transfers, requires XRP for fees, linking the stablecoin's operation to the token's base utility.
- •RLUSD launched in December 2024 after receiving approval from the New York Department of Financial Services, with support on both the XRP Ledger and Ethereum.
- •Issuing a stablecoin across multiple blockchains is standard practice among major issuers such as Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC.
Ripple chief executive Brad Garlinghouse has restated the company's hierarchy in plain terms: XRP comes first. In an interview published on Wednesday, November 4, Garlinghouse reaffirmed that XRP remains Ripple's "North Star," addressing a question that has followed the company since its stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), began drawing attention away from the token.
According to the report, approximately half of RLUSD is issued on the XRP Ledger, the native blockchain of the XRP token. Ripple has issued the stablecoin on two networks since its launch, with the remainder of the supply on Ethereum. Issuing a stablecoin across multiple chains is standard practice among major issuers — Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC both circulate on numerous blockchains — but the arrangement also ties RLUSD to XRP's base utility, since every transaction on the XRP Ledger, including transfers of issued RLUSD, is paid for in XRP.
Background: RLUSD and the XRP Ledger
RLUSD is Ripple's US dollar-backed stablecoin, designed to hold parity with the US dollar, which debuted in December 2024 after receiving approval from the New York Department of Financial Services, the regulator that oversees financial services companies in New York state. The token launched with support on both the XRP Ledger and Ethereum.
The XRP Ledger is an open-source blockchain that went live in 2012 and uses XRP as its native asset, which is used to pay transaction fees on the network. Ripple, the payments company Garlinghouse has led as chief executive since 2017, has long promoted the ledger for cross-border payment settlement — a use case that dollar-backed stablecoins like RLUSD are built to serve, holding a steady value rather than fluctuating with the broader crypto market.
Garlinghouse's "North Star" remark restates a framing he has used publicly before, positioning XRP as the central reference point for Ripple's strategy even as the company has expanded into stablecoins and other products. For readers weighing the token's standing against Ripple's newer offerings, the supply split itself is a concrete reference point: RLUSD balances on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum can be tracked directly on-chain.
This article was first published by COINOTAG: Ripple CEO Reaffirms XRP as 'North Star' With Half of RLUSD Issued on XRP Ledger
